2. Contact Info

3. Dealer Selection

Ford was caught with its engineering pants down when the base Chevrolet Camaro got GM’s high-feature V-6 (we told you so) and not the 3.5-liter pushrod. While the Camaro SS, with its small-block V-8 is selling well in its first year, typical of high-profile new models, the RS and base V-6 strike at the core of Mustang’s volume sales. And so for 2011, Ford’s 4.0-liter V-6, originally built in Cologne, Germany, eons ago, is finally out.

The new Mustang V-6 is Ford’s first rear-drive application of its familiar 3.7-liter with twin-independent variable cam timing. The Mustang 3.7 includes aggressive deceleration shutoff, piston-cooling jets, polished valvetrain tappets and electric power steering and transmits its power through six speeds, automatic or manual.

And the numbers are impressive: Ford claims 305 horsepower at 6500 rpm, 280 pound-feet at 4250 rpm and 30 mpg with the automatic, on the highway. “We are the only ones who can provide 30 mpg and 305 horsepower,” says Barb Samardzich, Ford’s global powertrain vice president. What’s more, redline is now a Honda-like 7000 rpm.

For those of you keeping score, the Mustang’s new V-6 is 0.5-liters smaller and 41 pounds lighter than the lump it replaces, it has 95 more horses and it’s 2 decibels quieter.

In addition, Ford will offer the V-6 Mustang with a performance package, featuring the GT’s suspension with high-performance brakes, summer tires on exclusive 19-inch wheels and vehicle stability control. Ford figures it will be popular with Mustang’s younger buyers (read, “growing out of the Civic Si”). So the next Mustang-Camaro faceoff won’t just be about 0-60 and quarter-mile, it’ll be about which one can go furthest on a tank of gas, as well.

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